Halfblood
by Xanabell
Summary: Ever wondered what Ginny, Luna and Colin did during their time at Hogwarts? Well add Ginny's cousin, Hestia a halfblood into the mix and trouble ensures
1. Many Meetings

Chapter 1: Many Meetings

Disclaimer: Own nothing  
A/N: Due to demand, I finally got around to writing my Harry Potter x Lord of the Rings crossover. I think that I'll put a bit of Colin Creevey OC in there too. And if anyone wants Neville and Luna in later chapters (this'll go from Harry's 2nd year right up to the end of Deathly Hallows.) add that to your review.

Hope you enjoy!

R&R  
}{anabell

"C'mon Luna! We're never going to make the train if you keep strolling along like that!" yelled an exasperated Ginny as she pulled her friend towards the Pillar that separated the Muggle world from the Magical  
"I'm only looking at the station it's not every day we get to come to come into the Muggle world. They are really good builders considering they don't have any magic!" Luna said as wandered dreamily looking at the structures and features of the station before she was pulled through the pillar  
"Fine we can look at Christmas, when we DON'T have to hurry to get the train." Ginny replied as she pushed her friend into one of the carriages. "Hey where's Ron and Harry?" she asked "I think they're with Hermione." Percy replied as he got on after them, ignoring the fact that Hermione had just gotten on the train before them. Unknown to them, the boys were far behind them and were about to be shut out and forced to something that Molly Weasley would never let them forget.

Ginny and Luna were walking through the train, looking for an empty dogbox.

They were about ten minutes into the journey when they finally found an empty one, quickly entering they set their bags down for an uneventful trip. However, fate, destiny and chance had other plans.

* * *

"Hi, um you wouldn't happen to know a Ginny Weasley?" asked a girl, with the same shade of red hair as Ginny- carefully tied into a low ponytail, to not show the tips of her ears- as she entered the dogbox  
"I would. I'm her" said Ginny looking up from her book that she had in her bag. The girl was about the same height as her, lithe and wearing a Quidditch jacket, the Australian Boomers  
"I'm Hestia. Molly Weasley is my aunt. Hagrid said that I had multiple cousins on the train, but the one that was my age was called Ginny." She said sitting down after she put the bag she was carrying in the bag rack  
"I'm Luna Lovegood. Where are you from? Sorry to be rude, but I can't place your accent." Luna said shutting her own book  
"I thought that my Quidditch team would have told you that. No? Okay so Quidditch isn't like Rugby Union? Anyway, I'm from Australia." Hestia said as she adjusted her hair  
"Is your last name Weasley?" Ginny asked. She had so many aunts and uncles that it was hard to remember who had married who  
"Yeah, dad's the Weasley." She said finally giving up fixing her hair "but he moved to Australia with mum. Is it safe to assume that I'll have a hard time at Hogwarts?" Hestia added  
"Well, sorta. The sorting hat will probably stick you in Gryffindor like the rest of us. Otherwise, avoid Fred and George at all costs" Ginny summed up from personal experience  
"Right avoid all other cousins." Hestia said making a mental note  
"Well, not all other cousins, Percy's okay but he can be an arse sometimes" Ginny remarked "Yeah, but avoid the twins."  
"Do you know about auras?" asked Luna  
"Yeah I do. Luna, you have to remember that not all twins have the same shape and style of aura. Their individual experiences will change that. Heck, my grandfather on my mother's side, who is ancient, is a twin. Both their auras were the same for the first few millennia, but then about fifty years ago he lost touch with his twin. So we don't know if they're still the same." Hestia said  
"Wait! Did you say millennia? How old is he?" Ginny said standing up quickly  
"Pretty old. I haven't been able to get a year out of him yet but I'm working on it. Mum got an approximate Age from my great grandfather, who's even older than him before he sailed" Hestia responded, smiling at the looks of disbelief on their faces  
"You're an elf?" asked Luna, eyes going wide with awe  
"Well, ¾ of an elf. Dad's still human, even if he is magical." Hestia replied, this wasn't unusual for her. Having an elf for a mother and a wizard for a father may be uncommon for some, but for her, they were her family  
"Wow, you are truly a half-blood." Ginny said smiling before noticing that they were going over an viaduct and that Percy was at the door, waiting to be allowed in  
"Ginny, Luna, it's time to get changed. Hey, who are you?" Percy said looking at Hestia  
"Hestia Weasley." She said before adding "I come from Australia." Seeing the look of confusion as he tried to remember if he had meet her at a family function  
"Oh, well, welcome to England and good luck at Hogwarts." He said as he left them

* * *

Once they were all changed, they all sat back down and pulled out books. Hestia's stood out  
"What's that?" asked Luna, seeing how thick it was  
"What this? It's 'Plants of Middle Earth and Their Uses'. Well, that's what mum and I call it anyway. It doesn't really have a name."Hestia explained  
"It probably isn't that useful to us then, is it?" Ginny asked  
"Well, sorta, some of the plants that were growing in Middle Earth at the time it was written are still growing today. We just have different names for them, um, African box thorn is actually called Brambles of Mordor. And Birch forests are Brethil." Hestia said, showing the illustrations in the book  
"Wow. Do you know elvish?" asked Luna, curious about what else she could do  
"**You see the boy walking around with the...um... why is there a Ford Anglia flying next to the train?**" Hestia said pointing out the window, before realising that she'd just asked the question in elvish "Why is there a Ford Anglia flying next to the train?" she repeated  
"Bloody Hell!" Ginny exclaimed as she saw Harry fall out of the passenger side of the vehicle  
"What?" Hestia asked  
"That's Harry Potter-the boy who lived? Well, he's my brother's best friend so that means that Ron's flying the car!" Ginny continued  
"Sorry, I don't know who in Eru's name he is." Hestia replied as the train finally settled back down after the surprise. It wasn't long before they would be arriving.


	2. Stations and Sortings

Chapter 2: Stations and Sortings  
Disclaimer: Own Nothing

When the train finally pulled up alongside the station, it was dark and everyone started to yell things at their friends that they hadn't seen on the train. For Hestia's ears it was a nightmare, combined with the noise from the train, she wished that she was back home in Australia. Her new friends, Ginny and Luna tried to help her through the crowd without too much trouble  
"Ginny, I'm getting an overload." Hestia said loud enough so that her cousin could hear  
"Shh, it quiets down soon" she replied just as some second year Slytherins pushed past her, causing her to fall  
"Hey!" she yelled as she tried to hide the tips of her ears, unfortunately, it was moments like these that her accent shone through, this caused the platinum blonde boy, who looked like the leader of the Slytherins to turn and laugh at her  
"The nerve of you convicts! I'd wager that you're not even a halfblood!" he yelled at her before turning to go off with his friends. As soon as they left Hagrid arrived, took one look at Hestia before pulling her up  
"'ow, 'ow (Now) we can't 'ave (have) ya on 'te groun' already, Hes." He said before calling the group to attention "Right, then. This way to the boats. Come on now, follow me." Hagrid said turning around, Hestia was now back with her friends, but that boy with the camera was really starting to bug her eyes. _I wonder if it would have the same effect to elves like Legolas, grandpa and mum._ She thought as she hopped into a boat and was given a lantern on a pole, she was looking at the castle like it was the best piece of architecture she had ever seen, Ginny pulled her out of her musings as she climbed in  
"Make sure you don't get wet, Hestia. I bet Poseidon wouldn't like that." The red head said, shooting a look at Luna  
"Ha, ha, ha. Better lock you up then." Hestia replied, sounding less that pleased before adding "We don't want Arthur to kidnap you." She sniggered  
"Nice one. Oh look out, here comes the guy with the camera!" Luna said, hoping to help Hestia protect her sight  
"Thanks!"  
"Hi, I'm Colin Creevey!" he said excitedly, raising the camera to take a photo of them  
"No photos! My eyes are sensitive!" Hestia hissed raising her hand to try and shield her grey eyes  
"Why? I mean, but its dark and the flash doesn't really hurt..." the boy rambled  
"Trust me, back at the station, Hes had an overload. Her eyes and ears are really sensitive." Ginny explained just as they arrived on the far shore.

They managed to get everyone out of the boats without them getting too wet, although Luna put her shoe into the lake by accident because she was looking around. Hagrid left them there as he went to take his seat in the Great Hall. The first years all walked through the entrance halls until they were met at the top of the stairs by an old female professor  
"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now while you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the houses with the most points is awarded the house cup. The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily." She said standing at the top of the stairs above all the first years. As she turned and walked back through the doors, Hestia caught a glimpse of what the inside looked like. The candles floated in the air, the fires were lit and it looked like the Hall of Fire that her mother had described to her from her time in Arda. The look of pure excitement on her face prompted a boy, who looked very much like the one that had pushed her to the ground and laughed at her. He must have heard Ginny or Luna say something to her  
"Well, so far we have two of the Olympian Council present. Anyone else have a weird name?" he asked, although the question was for Hestia. Just by the tone of his voice was enough to force Luna to come up with a retort that has yet to be beaten  
"If you're so worried about people having weird names, how about you give us yours?" she said stepping forward, this had given Hestia enough time to pull her courage together and face the boy, after Ginny had told her that was professor Minerva McGonagall  
"And actually, Minerva is a Roman Goddess, who is sometimes considered to be like the Greek Athena, except for the fact that she isn't a war goddess. And Hestia gave up her seat on the Olympian Council to stop a civil war. So before you go insulting people just because their names are different, get your facts straight! **You son of a Balrog!**" Hestia said, adding the last part in Elvish just to throw them. Instead it made him introduce himself  
"The name's Malfoy. Nero Malfoy." He said stepping forward  
"Ha! After the crazy Roman Emperor?!" Ginny laughed before being shot down  
"Well there's no need to ask your name. Weasley. I'd bet that was your brother's robe?" he said before returning his attention back to Hestia "And you?" he asked. She had the same colour hair but she had a brand new robe  
"Hestia Wesley." She said, all courage gone now as she tried to hide the tops of her ears. She didn't trust him  
"Yet another? My brother has told me all about your kind. Blood traitors!" he spat causing his friends to laugh at her. Thankfully, McGonagall had chosen that moment to return. She already had two students unaccounted for, and she didn't need any more minor fights  
"Is everything alright here students?" she asked raising an eyebrow  
"I think we're fine here, professor." Hestia replied  
"We're ready for you. Follow me." She said turning on her heel and led them into the hall.

Once they had reached the front of the hall, McGonagall addressed them again  
"Will you wait along here please. Now before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words." Before reaching up her arm and producing a scroll  
"I have a few start-of-term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note, that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students. There has been a change to the way we will be playing Quidditch this year, there will be a team for every year and the best will still be on the house team. House captains, you will be responsible for picking these students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to all who do not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you." Finished the headmaster before sitting back down, Hestia noted that his blue eyes were almost as piercing as Gandalf's , but didn't say anything  
"When I call your name you will come forth, I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Micheal Corner!" Yelled McGonagall, as she read of the scroll  
"Ravenclaw." Called the hat as he sat on the stool  
"Colin Creevey!" The boy with the camera walked up and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on his head for a brief second before yelling  
"Gryffindor!" This scared Hestia a bit, but she refused to show any emotion that Nero could pick up on. Silently she said to herself "**I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept no hope for myself**." The saying had become her mantra, whatever remained of the once proud race of the Dúnedain did think of her as their new hope  
"What?" hissed Ginny from next to her  
"Nothing..."  
"Nero Malfoy!" called McGonagall, they were already down to M, Luna would be one of the next. The hat took no time in announcing what he had been sorted into  
"Slytherin!" This caused all the Slytherins to cheer as he walked over. The second year, who had pushed Hestia over, shook his hand as he sat next to him. They looked so much alike that it was easy to see that they were brothers  
"Luna Lovegood!" As Luna walked up she smiled brightly at all of the teachers, getting a few smiles in return. Sitting down, she looked like she was having a conversation with the hat, which after a few moments announced  
"Ravenclaw!" Luna smiled at the other two as she walked over to join her house mates  
"Ginevra Weasley!"  
"Straight to Gryffindor with the rest of them!" yelled someone in Slytherin  
"Silence!" boomed the headmaster  
"Gryffindor!" yelled the hat, leaving Hestia remembering that she was next  
"Hestia Weasley!" called McGonagall. Hestia hoped that her ponytail held when they put the sorting hat on her head  
"Yet another Weasley?" it started before it started to sort through her memories "Yes, there's the bravery that all you Weasley's posses, yet it is a different kind of bravery. Wait. What's this?" it asked. _It must be seeing me trying to do elven magic_. Hestia thought as it announced "There's definitely strong magic in this one, yet it seems older and trying to free itself, having recently oppressed by the Weasley side of you... there's only one place for you..." it concluded "Gryffindor!" it called. The entire Gryffindor house stood up as she quickly walked over, hoping that this was one of the few times that the grace of the Eldar was with her, and the fact that she had a feeling that if she stayed up there any longer, her ears would turn red from embarrassment.  
"Welcome to Gryffindor, Hes!" Ginny said as she hugged her as she sat down, and with that the feast began.


	3. Meet the Family

Chapter 3: Meet the family  
Disclaimer: I only own Hestia. (Lucky bitch)

After the Sorting ceremony, the rest of the Weasley's took turn in introducing themselves  
"So this is the new Weasley on the block?" asked one of the twins  
"Leave it Fred." Said the other before extending his hand across the table to her "George"  
"Hestia." She replied shaking it  
"I'm Percy." Said the other one sitting next to George, wearing a prefect's badge, before returning to his food  
"Normally, we'd introduce you to Ron, but..." said Ginny "hey, Perce, where's Ron?" she asked as she looked up the table trying to find him  
"No, I thought that he was with you on the train." Percy started as he cut his meat, "Oliver, have you seen Ron and Harry... Hang on a minute. Where's Harry?" Percy said, starting to look worried as he sent the message down to some second years who shrugged and suggest that they look up the other end of the table, the girl they met on the train perked up and said  
"No, I thought they were with you, avoiding me." She finished as they all turned to see Filch run up to the teacher's table and talk to a man with long, greasy, black hair, also dressed entirely in black, before they both swiftly left  
"Excuse me, um but who was that?" she asked the boy that she was sitting next to. The one Percy had called Oliver  
"The name's Oliver Wood. That my friend, was professor Snape and Filch the cleaner. Snape teaches potions but everyone knows that he's been after Defence Against the Dark Arts for years." He explained  
"Are you the Quidditch captain for Gryffindor?" she asked, catching a gleam of polished brass on his robes. Her eyesight helping her see what it was for  
"Yes, how'd you see that?" he asked shocked at how she could see that  
"I've got very keen eyes. Dad usually comes to me or mum if he's lost something." She said eating her salad  
"Is he a muggle?" Wood asked  
"No, he's the Weasley. He just prefers not to use his wand for small things." She explained  
"So, your mother's the muggle?" he asked, confused. How could she be a halfblood, if not her mother  
"Nope. She's not the muggle. She's of the Eldar." Hestia said, hoping not to give away too much  
"Eldar... Sorry, not ringing any bells." Wood replied, he hadn't really paid attention in Care for Magical Creatures in his time here at Hogwarts  
"Elves." She said, not wanting to raise her hair just yet  
"A house elf?" he asked astounded  
"Of Middle Earth. The last remaining grandchild of Lord Elrond of Rivendell." Hestia said hoping he'd read Lord Of The Rings  
"Rivendell?" he asked "That existed?" he questioned  
"Yep." Hestia replied pushing part of her hair down so he could see the tip of her ear  
"Wow. That probably means you're more agile and swifter than most of us regular humans, right?" he asked, formulating plans in his head. Fred and George had already told him that Ginny was competent in being a Chaser, and now Hestia's sight and agility made her the obvious choice for a seeker  
"Yeah." She said  
"Next week, I'm holding training with the team. Come along and we'll see how you go. You should have at least a week's worth of flying lessons under your belt by then!" he said just as the plates were cleared and the Headmaster announced that it was time to retire for the night. As he left, Hestia couldn't help but remember the tales of Gandalf her mother had told her.

* * *

As they walked back, Hestia found herself next to Ginny and Wood, memorising where she had to go. They had merged with Ravenclaw for a bit, but Percy yelled "Gryffindor! This way please!" to separate them as they took a turn up the stairs. The boy with the camera, Colin, was walking around taking photos of everything  
"What's wrong with him?" Hestia asked of no one in particular  
"Nothing, he's just a muggle" Wood said as he went to catch up with Katie Bell and discuss Quidditch and the new changes, and get a few ideas for the new teams  
"Ok, I have no idea what a muggle is. And everyone seems to be always using it! **Kíli's beard!**" Hestia said  
"Non-magical people. And what was that?" Ginny said getting a bemused look on her face as Hestia cursed some more  
"That was Kíli's beard. He had next to none, or so my grandfather said." She explained  
"And that's a bad thing why?" asked Ginny  
"He was a dwarf. Every dwarf has a beard to be proud of. Except Kíli. He had a shadow that could just be counted as stubble. And earlier I called Nero a son of a Balrog. Go look them up!" Hestia said as they finally arrived at the portrait, of a fat lady, attempting to sing opera  
"Ugh, she gets worse every year!" complained one of the first years  
"I have to agree with you, Seamus!" said another  
"What she really needs is some lessons, right Neville?" said the one that apparently was called Seamus  
"Password?" asked the picture in a deep voice, making Hestia gasp in shock and take a small step back into Wood  
"Don't be afraid. She gets so used to seeing Gryffindor's that she doesn't even ask for a pass word sometimes. But we have to do this for first years." Wood explained just before Percy said the words  
"Dragon Scales" he said confidently  
"Come in" she said as the portrait swung open revealing the homely looking common room inside  
"Follow me, everyone. Keep up. Quickly, come on! Gather around here. Welcome to the Gryffindor common room. Boys' dormitories is upstairs and down to your left. Girls the same on your right. You'll find all your belonging have already been brought up." Percy explained some of the older students went directly to their dorms, not needing to listen to Percy  
"And you said that Percy was ok?" Hestia asked as she and Ginny climbed the stairs  
"Well, most of the time, but steer clear of him unless absolutely necessary!" Ginny hissed in her ear as they pushed open the door into the room. There had been three other girls sorted into Gryffindor that year  
"Hi, I'm Elanor Telcontar." Said a girl with brown hair. As a matter of fact, they all had brown hair  
"Elizabeth Gardener" said another with blue eyes and honey brown hair  
"Daisy Took!" said another with curly hair and bright eyes. Hearing these names reminded Hestia of her mother's stories about the fellowship.  
Gardener was a derivative of Gamgee, the most notable being Samwise.

Took was a name that hadn't really changed over the years, but most had forgotten what marvellous adventures the Took's of old had gone on. Even if they had been call "you fool of a Took!" by a grumpy old wizard.

Elanor's last name was a complete surprise to her. Telcontar of translated from Quenya, Strider, the name that King Elessar had given to his house to commemorate his time as Strider, a ranger of the North. The look in Elanor's eyes had confirmed her suspicions, the look of a race once proud, now reduced once again to a wandering people. Elanor was in fact one of the Dúnedain

"Well, I'm Ginny Weasley and that's my cousin Hestia Weasley." Ginny said drawing Hestia out of her musings  
"Hi." Hestia said nervously before seeing where her? stuff had been placed. Her trunk was sitting next to one of the four poster beds, next to the window, with her house tie, scarf and vest lay over a chair. Her bird, Gwaihir, an eagle sat on the dresser that was hers. How she had convinced her father to let her have the eagle, she will never know  
"Yeah, um we arrived here and the eagle was out of its cage... it screeched at us when we tried to coax it back in." Elanor said as she put her clothes in her dresser and her towel over the guard rail of the furnace that stood in the centre of the room  
"Don't worry about Gwaihir, he just likes screeching at people for no apparent reason." Hestia explained as she opened the window and shooed him out of it "He doesn't like being caged up all that much either." She said as she stood clear as the bird flew past her at a blinding speed  
"I thought that the letter said only owls, cats or a toad." Elizabeth said as she too unpacked. Daisy had literally ran up the stairs and changed into her pyjamas and was curled up under the covers on her bed. Hestia and Ginny had just returned from their showers when the girl Oliver Wood had been talking to before came through their door  
"Right," she started before looking around the room. The girls were mostly already unpacked. There was a cage next to one of the red heads beds, but it was empty, however, there didn't appear to be any searching "I'm Katie Bell, I've been sent down from a few years above you to make sure you're all fine." She said before continuing "Was there supposed to be something in that cage?" she asked the red head that was closest to the bed  
"Yeah, my eagle. He doesn't like being caged so I let him go fly outside." She responded evenly  
"Right. So, tomorrow, all of your timetable will be pinned up on the notice board that is in the common room. But from then on, once you hit second year. They're usually with the rest of your belongings. So with that, hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts and have a goodnights sleep. I really don't want to have to come down here to tell you lot to go to sleep." Katie said as she left, flicking her wand at the candles and lights to turn them off. All of them had climbed into bed as she was talking to them anyway.

Hestia lay awake. She had to wait until Katie had left so she could take her hair out and let Gwaihir back in. As she stood up she could easily see her way around to the window. Quietly opening it, the eagle flew back in and sat on the top of Hestia's chair. Moving back over to the mirror, she let the ponytail out. Her heritage showing through. She hadn't always had red hair, she'd been born a brunette, and it had only recently finished turning itself red. Sighing, she walked back over to her bed, petting Gwaihir and wishing him goodnight before carefully arranging her hair so that no one could see the tips of her ears. She definitely had to tell Professor McGonagall about that, 1 because she was her head of house and 2, because she was the Transfiguration teacher. She needed those glamors!


	4. Timetables and Suspicions

Chapter 4: Timetables and suspicions  
Disclaimer: see above? *To * does that work for you?  
R&R

When Hestia got up in the morning she pulled out from her draw her skirt, a necessary evil, her white top, her tie, the vest, some socks and her shoes. Quickly dressing in the bathroom, she raced down to the common room, cursing her skirt as she went. There had to be a loophole in the school rules that would let her wear pants. Racing down to the notice board, she saw Percy and another head of house still pinning up the timetables. They'd brought Wood down with them, but he was passed out on the couch  
"Morning!" Hestia said cheerfully as she stood on her tip toes to see if she could see her's or Ginny's  
"Morning Hestia. I assume that you're here for your timetables?" Percy asked as he held his hand out for another pin  
"Perce. I think we better put them down a bit. The first years aren't that tall." The other said as he moved some down  
"Fine." Percy said stubbornly  
"Hi, what's your name?" said the other Prefect  
"Hestia Weasley. Oh and can I get Ginny's as well?" she asked  
"We always reward those who get down here first!" the Prefect replied, handing her two of the timetables before asked "Can you get more pins from Wood, please?" pointing over to where the Quidditch captain held the pins against his chest  
"Sure." She replied happily as she walked over to Wood and slowly moved her hand towards the pins  
"Oh and try not to wake him up! He hates being up at this hour. Especially since he was up late last night, trying to sort out some things for Quidditch, I think!" Percy said as Wood stirred a bit  
"**Stay asleep. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need the pins**." Hestia said, hoping the soft rolling of the Elvish tongue would lull him back to sleep. It worked. Grabbing the pins she handed them to Percy who just looked at her in shock. In previous years when he had dragged Wood down, he was usually the one who was sent to wake him up. And usually be sworn at. Wood usually apologised later  
"Wow, you managed to keep Oliver asleep!" the Prefect said "What language was that? Was it a spell?" he asked  
"Thanks, and I'm not going to tell you what language that was in because it's supposed to be a dead language." Hestia said as she bounced back up the stairs to wake Ginny up.

* * *

As she suspected, Ginny was still asleep, partially snoring as she burst through the door. Elanor and Daisy were dressed and were waiting for Elizabeth to finish making her bed before they headed down to breakfast. Sighing, Hestia walked over to Ginny's bed and said calmly "Get up, useless! We have to have breakfast and get down to the dungeons! We have potions first!" she said before her cousin sat bolt upright  
"BLOODY HELL!" she yelled as she ran around, grabbing her clothes before heading to the showers. Returning a few minutes later, she had her hair brushed, robes on, but looked like her tie was Sauron. "Can you do ties?" she asked  
"Of course." She said pointing to her own tie before doing her cousins. Setting Ginny's collar straight she grabbed a small handful of owl pellets. Gwaihir eagerly ate them as the girls raced down the stairs. Wood had decided that it was time to move, having left the lounge  
"Hes, do you have our timetables?" Ginny asked looking at the blank board  
"Yeah, I grabbed them earlier." Hestia replied handing Ginny hers before they both raced down the moving staircase  
"We are starting our time here in the dungeons!" Ginny exclaimed as they stopped to make sure that Hestia's ears were hidden  
"It could be worse. We could have double potions with the Slytherins like we do on Friday. On the bright side however, we have DADA with Luna and most of our transfiguration lessons with the Hufflepuffs. And after lunch we get flying lessons!" Hestia said as they walked in. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, Hestia was met with  
"Bloody hell, Ginny. Who's that?" asked a red-headed second year  
"That Ron is our cousin, Hestia. She's Australian." Ginny said as she started to butter toast. Hestia grabbed some of her own, and started to look for the Vegemite, only to find that there wasn't any  
"**Elrond's Eyebrows! There isn't any!**" she huffed just as the mail arrived. Gwaihir swooped down with her copy of the Daily Prophet. The eagle dropped it and Hestia's hand shot up and grabbed it, quickly and swiftly like the half elf that she was  
"Excuse me, but we speak English in this part of the world." Ginny said, hoping that Hestia got the message  
"Sorry." she said as she grabbed the ham as it floated past and put that on instead  
"You know, professor Snape was looking when your bird came in with the morning paper. I think he noted how quick your reflexes were..." Hermione said as she ate her cereal  
"It's just natural... heck I'm not on steroids!" Hestia replied, shocked at the prospect. Thankfully, Hermione was already back to talking with Ron and Harry.

Outside, Luna caught them as they left  
"Where are you heading?" she asked excitedly  
"Dungeons. We got potions." Ginny said, as they walked out to the top of the stairs  
"I'm going to defence against the dark arts. Have you seen the new teacher?" Luna added  
"No, but I have to face Nero Malfoy, in double potions, first thing Friday morning!" Hestia said  
"Sounds like fun! I better get going! It's a long way to DADA!" Luna said taking off up the stairs, leaving Hestia and Ginny to walk down the stairs, taking the short cut to the dungeons, until they were yelled at from behind  
"Hey! Wait up!" called the voice  
"Creevey." The cousins sighed at the same time, turning around. It just wasn't Colin but Elanor, Daisy and Elizabeth as well  
"We were going to get lost." Daisy said as they walked down the stairs  
"Yeah, and then we remembered that you've got siblings, Ginny." Elanor added  
"So we decided to follow you." Elizabeth finished  
"Can I get a photo now?" Colin asked pointing to his camera  
"Oh **Eru** no! My eyes are extremely sensitive. If you can turn the flash off then you can." Hestia said, hoping that he'd understand  
"Who's Eru?" Daisy asked  
"You fool of a Took! Go look him up yourself!" Hestia said, laughing just as they arrived. Professor Snape was standing outside the door  
"Well, well, well. This is most unheard of. Most of the Gryffindors showing up, before most of the Slytherins." He said ushering them in "Take a seat on the left hand side." He said coldly, sending shivers up Hestia's spine  
"You okay?" Ginny asked setting her books on the table  
"Yeah, I think. There's something about that teacher that just isn't right." Hestia said looking over her shoulder at the teacher, trying to remember if her father had shown or told her something about him. Realising that he hadn't, she made a mental note to ask him over Christmas. When the last of the Slytherins walked in, lead by none other than Nero Malfoy. Snape was sitting behind his desk, taking the register before looking up and saying in his cold voice  
"Mr Malfoy, you were expected to be here almost five minutes ago. But seeing as this is your first day, I won't take any points away from Slytherin house. Take a seat." He said pointing to the seat directly right from Hestia. Whatever had possessed her to sit on the aisle side of the desk had better hope that her hair doesn't fall out  
"Miss Weasley." Snape said, now addressing the cousins  
"Yes, professor?" they replied in sync  
"Miss Hestia Weasley. Can you tell me what properties Simbelmynë has?" he asked looking directly at her  
"Yes I can sir. Simbelmynë was common upon the burial mounds of the kings of Rohan. It grew heavily on the mounds of the greater kings and less on the tombs of the lesser kings. Today it's used in potions to determine how potent a potion is: it will become brighter if the potion is potent and it will wither if the potion is wrong or isn't strong enough." Hestia replied, causing gasps from all around the room  
"Correct. 20 points to Gryffindor, for the correct identification of a plant and its uses." He said walking away from her desk and back up to the black board, which he flicked his wand at "Take these notes down. Tomorrow, bring your cauldrons to class as I will be assessing your skill level with a low level of difficulty potion." He said sitting back at his desk  
"Nice work Weasley!" hissed Nero from across the aisle  
"**Oh, go to the pits of Utumno and become an orc. Wait, you're already are!**" she hissed back, still looking at the board and taking notes in her book. Quickly glancing across at Snape, she realised that his eyes had just flicked from black to the startling grey of her own eyes and back to black again. _That's weird. I'll have to ask dad about that too._ She thought as he prepared to dismiss the class  
"Class dismissed." He said just as the bell rang. All the students stood up quickly, gathered their things and left swiftly. Hestia was just about to pick up her own book when Nero swaggered over and picked it up, to see if he could get her into trouble for anything. _Shit. I wrote the notes down in elvish!_ Her mind screamed at her  
"Professor Snape! Hestia didn't take the notes down. Her book looks like a lot go gibberish!" he said waving the book under the potion master's nose  
"I can see that, Mr Malfoy. Now go to your next class. I will deal with this myself." Snape said before turning to Hestia, who shifted nervously under his gaze. When Nero finally left Snape turned to her and asked coldly "What language is this?" he asked pointing at the book  
"Elvish sir, I can explain..." she started  
"I need no explanation of your circumstances." He said as his eyes flicked to grey again, his voice sounding like her grandfathers, before the eyes returned to black "But I will have to take 5 points from Gryffindor for lack of disregard to the school rules on bullying. I believe that you have transfiguration now. Correct?" he said. Taking her leave she raced to where McGonagall had her classes.

* * *

"Well, what did Snape want?" asked Ginny as Hestia sat down next to her  
"I just lost five points for 'bullying' Nero. But he understands my 'disadvantage'." Hestia explained as she pulled out an advanced book on Defence against the Dark Arts. Flipping through until she found what she was looking for  
"What's this? Why are you doing this Hes?" Ginny asked looking over at the page. It was something that most wizards and witches never say in their lives, yet it could extend the lives of those it affected  
"One of my dad's books. He was an Auror before he married my mother. This was one of my favourite books. He wrote in spells and potions that helped him. Hopefully he saw something like this..." Hestia said trying to find what she was looking for  
"What are you looking for?" Ginny asked again  
"I have a feeling. I'm not sure how right it is, but it's a feeling." Hestia started before seeing McGonagall arrive at the room, the arrival meant that she had to put the book away  
"Tell me at lunch." Ginny hissed as McGonagall started the lesson  
"Remember I'll be a little late. I have to get these glamours on." Hestia replied as she took the notes on the black board down. In English this time.

As class was dismissed for lunch, Hestia remained seated in her spot, waiting until McGonagall looked up from the marking she was doing  
"Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Weasley?" she asked, confused. All the other Gryffindors had raced out to lunch  
"Yes professor, there is. I'm sure you know about my heritage." Hestia asked looking confident at her request  
"Yes I do." McGonagall replied before adding "In fact I was there when your parent's were married. I know all about your circumstances." McGonagall said, smiling. Jonathon Weasley had topped transfiguration and DADA in his NEWTs, becoming the Auror that he had wanted to be, as well as a member of the Order of the Phoenix  
"Professor, I need glamours on my ears. I can't focus on classes and have to constantly remember not to brush my hair behind my ears. The Slytherins would tear me apart." Hestia said  
"Come over here. This won't hurt a bit, although it'll feel a little funny for a little bit," McGonagall started as she waved her wand over the student's ears, changing them from the slender point of the elves to the round lobe of humans "A simple wave of your own wand over your ears will remove the glamour, now go to lunch before the rest of the Gryffindors finish it." McGonagall winked before ushering her out of the room.


End file.
